Wisconsin recently gave local officials the power to impound vehicles involved in reckless driving offenses
Since Cavalier Johnson became the mayor of Milwaukee in 2021, he’s called reckless driving a “public safety crisis.” The number of fatal crashes in the city have been growing at a higher rate than the rest of the country since 2014.
“These are preventable deaths. These are preventable injuries and we’re all working and rolling in the same direction to stop them,” Johnson told WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” on Tuesday.
Last month, Gov. Tony Evers signed a law giving local municipalities the power to impound vehicles involved in reckless driving offenses. The Milwaukee Common Council and mayor quickly took advantage of the new power with an ordinance change.
WPR’s “Wisconsin Today” newsletter keeps you connected to the state you love without feeling overwhelmed. No paywall. No agenda. No corporate filter.
Milwaukee police can now seize any vehicle involved in a reckless driving incident, regardless of whether the offender owns the vehicle or how many prior offenses they have. Police are expected to make a “reasonable effort” to track down the owners of stolen vehicles impounded for reckless driving. The owners of a stolen vehicle will not have to pay to get it back. However, the owners of borrowed vehicles will.
“I believe we’ll send a very strong signal that we’re not taking this lightly, and that there’s going to be owner responsibility if you loan out your vehicle,” Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman told “Wisconsin Today.”
The state Legislature is also considering bills that would allow cities to install red light and speed enforcement cameras and to impose speed limiting devices on the cars of repeat offenders.
Norman said that reckless driving in Milwaukee became worse during the COVID-19 pandemic. He’s seen a spike in excessive speeding, motorists swerving in and out of traffic and the so-called “Milwaukee Slide,” where cars pass on the right in bike or parking lanes.
The city’s Public Works department has added traffic features meant to prioritize safety over speed. That includes protected bike lanes, speed humps, speed tables, roundabouts, traffic circles and curb extensions. Johnson said these changes are paying off. The number of fatal crashes in the city between January and October of this year declined by about 16 percent compared to the same time period last year.
Milwaukee is the second community in the state to adopt the Vision Zero initiative, an international effort that aims to eliminate road deaths. Johnson says the project requires a cultural change.
“I wish that folks would just take into account their own well being,” Johnson said. “And if you’re not thinking about yourself, think about the well being of your neighbors and folks around us in our community.”
Milwaukee County District Attorney Kent Lovern said reckless drivers are often picked up for fleeing or reckless endangerment. Both are felonies, and camera evidence from squad cars is usually strong enough to convict, Lovern said.
“Our approach is to recommend some amount of incarceration time upfront with every sentence that we achieve a conviction on,” Lovern said.  
Catching reckless drivers can be difficult. Milwaukee’s police have been under scrutiny for its chase policy after a pursuit ended in a crash that killed three bystanders and injured two others in September. 
Norman said many community members support chases if they’re done wisely under relatively safe conditions.
“They cannot see a world where there is no accountability or some type of intervention methods for those who are bringing harm or danger to our roads or to our community,” Norman said.
© 2025 by Wisconsin Public Radio, a service of the Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and the University of Wisconsin-Madison

source